Draft:David Dacks

David Dacks, named a Local Hero by NOW Magazine in 2016, is a Toronto-based advocate of creative music in all its forms. He was Artistic then Executive Director of renowned experimental venue the Music Gallery from 2012-23.

David served on the Toronto Arts Council Board of Directors from 2017-23. He has sat on juries for the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts, the Juno Awards (multiple categories), Polaris Music Prize (Grand Juror, 2011), and Polaris Music Heritage Prize.

Prior to joining the Music Gallery, David was an editor of Exclaim Magazine’s coverage of jazz, R&B, reggae, and music from around the world. His writing has also appeared in CBC Music, Huffington Post, The Grid, Weird Canada, BlogTO, Paste and Musicworks. He was a programmer and host at University of Toronto radio station CIUT-FM for 25 years, and produced four documentaries for CBC Radio.